Like FDR’s Depression-era radio addresses, which were like a kick in the butt and a hug at the same time, our Fireside Chat is a subtle twist on the traditional seasonal brew. We begin with a rich, dark, English-style ale and then we improvise with spices until we know we have a beer worth sharing with the nation.

Fireside Chat is our early winter seasonal brew available from October through December in six pack cans and on draft. Brewed like a classic, warming Strong Ale but with a subtle blend of hand-selected spices for just the right festive flair.

Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by negroobserver:

I was very excited when I happened upon this beer at whole foods recently and I immediately bought a six-pack. I had never had any beer from this brewery, which made it even more interesting.

I was very disappointed. The beer had a dirty brown color with what appears to be floating sediment or spices. It smell really good with a strong hint of spices, particularly cinnamon and cloves. The taste is severly lacking. I found that the spices are overpowering and really take the flavor and texture of the beer away. The carbonation was strong and the mouth feel not very exceptional. Overall, I found that I didn't enjoy the beer very much and didn't really want to have another.

More User Reviews:

Appearance: Surprisingly clear, very deep mahogany brown body beneath a short head of creamy tan froth. The head drops readily to a standard collar along the sides of the glass. Lacing is made up of tiny spots, some larger drops, and the occasional stretch of craggy lace.

Taste: The spice is strong, but I don't think it's over-done. However, it does kind of build at the back of the throat unless you give it some time between sips. It's balanced within the dark, almost-burnt-sugar maltiness, and a surprisingly bitter back-bone. As it warms it becomes more chocolatey and round, softening the spice a bit more.

When cooler weather comes calling, so does the flock to indoor convening- hovering around the fire for bar banter and cosmos riddling. And the San "by God" Francisco brewery makes a beer for such the occasion.

Spicy introductions are made upon the middle palate as the creamy but semi-dry ale balances that malt sweetness with the supple spices of coffee and allspice- lead by cinnamon. Yet as delicate clove and nutmeg round out the beer's juicy malt center, its bigger-than-usual taste and effects take hold.

Drying alcohol and fleeting malt sweetness gives the ale a semi-sweet finish, creating crevices in taste that allow for the strong astringency from spice to balance the beer more so than hop additions. Those broad an woodsy hops are no match for the tannin-heavy unsettling that comes with those excessively boiled tea and spent coffee ground flavors.

While the ale simmers in the glass like coffee- there's a lot of promise in its taste. Allowing the spices to join the process in more post-fermentation usage would have retained the delicate oils from the spices and without leaching its brash tannin.

A - Poured a dark brown mahogany body with slight red or ruby highlights. Head was just shy of 2 fingers and was very frothy, creamy texture against some larger bubbles. Left a few streaks of lacing, and always appeared lively.

S - Smell is very sweet and fruity at first with an immediate wallop of cinnamon and nutmeg, maybe some other things from the spice rack in there... very spiced smelling. The sweet fruity aroma is almost raisiny, with a thick bready malt note. Like some sort of overly sweet and rich holiday desert.

T - Taste follows the nose but is engulfed in an astringent finish that swallows it up like a black hole. Nothing can escape the astringency... accept the cinnamon and the sweetnes. So yes.. no real malt, hops, just a drying astringent holiday cookie that was overcooked. On top of that, somehow in the face of massive astringency, the sweetness is just immense... I think cloying is a harsh word and I try not to use it in my reviews without some restraint... but this... this is cloyingly sweet beer.

M - Thick, sweet but still astringent.

O - This was neither refreshing, nor could it possibly perpetuate any fireside chat. Maybe I should smoke a cigarette like the guy on the can to add some flavor. Sorry for the diatribe, I often find myself liking most of the new beers I try. This one would be a drain pour if I wasn't committed to writing this review based on a fully drunken beer to give it the benefit of the doubt that it gets better as it warms. It doesn't.

Let me just start this semi-long winded review on how much I disliked this beer...I disliked it so much that I stopped what I was doing at 4 AM to come and write my first review on beer advocate. I’ve been reading reviews on this site for over a year now and I’m on it quite frequently, I’ve been meaning to start writing reviews for months now and well...Holy god damn shit this was the perfect inspiration. I by no means am an expert, and I fully understand that everyones palate is different, I’m sure there’s someone on this planet who can find something to like about this beer but they are probably a tad slow or dying of some kind of horrible disease that effects their senses...but I digress

A: Dark brown and red with a surprisingly deceiving head, I looked at it and said “wow that looks like a good beer”

S: Dark (dark wasn’t a smell until now) black coffee mixed with a small amount of 10-W30 engine oil, maybe an odd type of weird dried fruit scent in there some where, uhhh and alcohol and water scents as well

T: Dark (also a taste now as well), burnt, thick with coffee and weird dried fruit on occasion oil, lots of a bitter taste and a very strong presence of alcohol, some weird spices , very very harsh and unenjoyable, this should be called “fireside unnecessarily horrible yet intentional suicide”

M: Thick, chalky, harsh, rough...I keep taking a small sip of this after every section of this review and...god this is just really bad.

O: I’m extremely open minded when it comes to all beer, 99.9% of what I try that I’m not a fan of I can at least find something positive to say about it, and I usually end on an “I won’t buy it again but I’d drink it if it was offered to me” type of note. NOT fireside chat, I will never drink this shat again. It’s just not good, I’m not trying to be a jerk it is just a sincerely bad product.

I got myself into trouble drinking pints of this at a pub, not knowing how strong it is on the alcohol, because it never shows it! A few of these and I was real loose, which is always fun. Dark brown it looks like a porter, but the roast on the grain is only medium, and there is very little bitterness. What bitterness is in here is balanced out by a brown sugary middle and a drying spicy finish that may include anise and clove. A darker take on the winter warmer, it's rich and satisfying in the feel, very full bodied and lightly carbonated. Surprised how drinkable it is, which is how I got wasted on it in the first place. I have liked all the beer I have had from these guys, cool they have wider distribution now. Not my favorite here, but is think it is underrated.

Single finger head with poor retention but nice lace on a near clear deep amber red body. Aroma is very sweet and well represented with nutmeg, cherry, mint and cinnamon, all spice really. Flavors of the winter season with more nutmeg, gingerbread, nutmeg and hint of peppermint. Some caramel malt base as well. A lot thicker than expected, moderate carbonation and fairly oily coating the palate. Very interesting with this one managing to have many of the same flavors as others in the class but the overall flavors and body make it different and therefore memorable.

Pours a dark amber/cherry color with decent head. Decent lacing. Immediate aroma of sourness, funk, and sweet candied malts. WTF? Definitely not what I expected. Smells like a Flemish Red/Sour Ale. Taste follows with brettomyces-like sourness and funk along with sweet malts, cherries, and bitter/tart/sour finish. Mouthfeel is semi dry, kind of thin. I really do not understand this beer at all and not sure what they were aiming for. I don't pick up any of the cinnamon and utmeg spice that they claim to have thrown in. I'm so confused...

Hey, if you are going for that spiced holiday ale you may as well go big or not go at all. 21st went big flailing away at the tastes buds, perhaps not liquid gold but it sure was fun to drink. Fun enough to have more than one as well.

Flavorful, spiced up creation, with notes of smoke, burnt malts, dark chocolate, then quite dry in the finish. Taste is all over the place and doesnt really come together all that well. On the thin side and lacking a solid finish. Another blah beer from 21st Amendment. Contract brewed in Minnesota. I'm getting the feeling this brand is all style and little substance. Nice looking gaphics on the can and packaging, fairly lame attempt at a craft brew in the can. It is warming, but this is a less then decent winter warmer/night capper.

This beer is a dark red/amber colour with a foamy head that didn't last long. The smell has a lot of spice to it, mostly cloves and cinnamon with a hint of nuttiness. The taste is in-line with the smell, lots of clove and spices, with a nutty aftertaste. A nice winter beer.